Double Diamond Winter Ale | Dick's Brewing Company

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Poured a chesnut brown color with a fluffy slightly off-white well retained head,aromas of well...a winter warmer roasted nuts and brown sugar and an appetizing gingerbread elemant.Nice subtle complexities going on brown suger and caramel malt up front with a touch of dark fruit and spice a big dry earthy finish really makes you want more.There is a nice dose of hops in this winter warmer making it very well balanced and very,very drinkable and the alcohol is nicely hidden.A very nice winter warmer one of the better I have had in quite awhile.

Taste  The hops fall back at the tongue, leaving a big sherry-soaked malt base. This one is filled with a strong, bitter coffee/alcohol flavor and a strong oak influence. The sherry is really more like a whiskey or rye flavor, making this one a strong drink indeed.

Mouthfeel  Medium-bodied with a rather harsh alcohol sensation. This one could have been a little smoother.

Drinkability  I enjoy heavy Christmas ales, but this winter offering by Dicks was a little rough.

I picked up a number of micros to bring on a 3 week ski trip into Canada.
After a hard day on the hill I opened a Double Diamond Winter Ale.
First I enjoyed the label with the skier at the top of an interesting looking run.
It poured a dark copper with a very decent tan head. I first noticed the malt aroma followed by the hops which seemed to overwhelm the malt after a few seconds. To me the taste was just what I want in a winter ale. A good malt to hop balance without any spice . I expected a bit more body though. A couple of these and a good soak in our hot tub after a day skiing powder and trees is just what the doctor ordered for my sore knees. I sure wish I could get this beer back in NH. Can't even bring any home in my carryon anymore thanks to the non drinking trouble makers from you know where!

Sampled at the 2003 Holiday Ale Festival, Portland, OR. This winter warmer is just a big, fresh, malty, hoppy ale. No tricks, no spices, no berries. A robust amber color with tiny lacing. Aroma is musty, horse-blanketish, a bit sour - it is the low point of the brew. Malts are forceful, and somewhat raw, but appealing. There is some roastiness too. Hops are very crisp, a bit gummy and chewy which I love. Mouthfeel about as large as you would expect from a big beer like this. A solid and enjoyable ale, for winter or anytime. At the holiday ale fest this was a welcome respite from spiced, sweet holiday beers, this just being your basic malt and hops English ale, just jacked up a few notches.

Edit 1/05: I recently had this beer in a bottle and really hated it. Dick's bottle-conditions their beers and this one had too much dirty-tasting, dead yeast. The numbers reflect my original review, but you are advised to seek the beer on draft.

Edit 2/05: Also tried it from a cask. It was quite good, although thick to the point of being gloppy.

12oz bottle served in pint glass. Beer is a deep brownish red in color, slightly hazed, but produces neither head nor evidence of high viscosity. Spicy and phenolic aroma. Big flavors of spice. Very winter warmer. Suggests prunes and dark fruit, and betrays a fair amount of its alcohol content. I get nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. There's clearly some residual sugar in here, but the finish is dry, with plenty of beta hops to balance out the sweetness. Another really enjoyable winter warmer for me this season!

Whoa! Intense! Dick's Double Diamond Winter Ale pours a hazy deep-chestnut body with golden-brown highlights beneath a frothy head of light tan. The head retention is quite good, and it maintains a thin surface covering throughout at least the first half of the glass. The lacing left about the rim is just as good, and some solid sheets and rings leave an impressive wake. The nose is rich and full with a combination of caramelish malt, piney and spruce-like hops, soft sweet fruit, and a bit of candyish sweetness. Quite nice! In the mouth it's medium bodied with a dextrinous edge, and it's almost-creamy smooth once it warms a bit and lets a little of its carbonation off. The spicey and piney hops hit you right up front in the flavor, easing off a little bit to allow the fruitiness in (berries and cream), and some bready/malty sweetness; and then stepping aside as some alcohol shows itself towards the swallow. In the finish, a passing edge of what seems like roastiness or smokiness is probably just an illusion coming from the dryness of the brash bitterness, alcohol, caramelish malt, and piney hops. The strength is apparent at this point! And it lingers on the palate in a wash of alcohol with soft pine and dull candied-fruit. A sled-wrecker for sure!!!

Pours a bright, light brown-amber hue topped by a good creamy off-white head that leaves some decent lacing. Assertive aroma of sweet caramel malt, brown sugar, some fruity hops, and spicy yeast. Palate is strange and complex - heavy on the spices. Up front is solidly caramel malt, balanced mid-palate by fruity hops. The spiciness of the yeast comes through on the finish, with notes of clove, allspice, and pepper. Medium body is nice and creamy. Another interesting brew from Dick's.

Poured into a snifter, the appearance was a deep burnt red color with a nice finger’s worth of white foamy head that crept slowly into the beer leaving some subtle concave lace just a rim of it. The aroma had some caramel malt, lightly roasted, toast and then some sweet pomme-like fruits. Sweet grain. The flavor had the sweet enriching maltiness flowing back and forth between the grains and malts. Toast to caramel malty enriching aftertaste flows into the finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionable to sipping quality about it. Moderate carbonation. ABV felt good as is. Overall, pretty nice Winter Warmer worthy of having again.

A: The ale pours a deep rich brown color, almost muddy creek-like. There are ruby highlights that have a slightly orange tinge to 'em too. The head is nothing exciting.

S: The aroma is big malty grains, caramel and toffee primarily, with an undercurrent of spicy hops.

T: The ale deviates from the over-spiced concept of most winter warmers. It delivers a strong chewy malt body, heavy on caramel and toffee, but not so strong as to be confused with a bockbier. Some citrusy and piney hop notes emerge to tame down the malts a bit. The taste is big and uncompromising.

M: The big malts and nicely balanced hops are enjoyable and a perfect fit with the snow that finally fell this week.

D: The alcohol is deceptive, weighing in at 8.5%, so beware. Beyond that though, this is an excellent non-spiced winter warmer.

From a 12 ounce bottle. I assume it is the 2008 version but there is no date of any kind on the bottle.
Poured crystal clear brown color with no haze. A one finger off-white head from a gentle pour. Good amount of lacings but the head recedes quickly. Aroma is spicy with some toffee.
Taste is sweet carmelized brown sugar, nutmeg, and earthy bitter hops with a tinge of lemons and orange zest. The alcohol is well masked and listed on the cool ski scene label as 7.5% abv. Mouthfeel is just right and there is a fully bitter effect on the back of the tongue. Plenty dry finish which makes you want another taste. Drinkability is good, almost too good. This brew will sneak up on you if you aren't aware of the 7.5%. Another fine beer from Dick's which has so far been a very positive experience.

The color a hazy and murky deep copper color with a modest light tan head that is semi-creamy in texture with the lace sufficient to conceal the glass. Nose has a light hop floral aroma at the front but malt dominates also a slight hint of bubble gum, fresh and clean to the senses, start is lightly sweet, nice malt profile, top is light to moderate in feel. Finish is delightful in its hop spiciness, the acidity biting, and aftertaste hop spicy bitter and quite dry quite nice Winter Ale.

12 oz bottle courtesy of Libby pours a clear, dark crimson color with a very creamy tan head. Retention is decent and not much lacing.

Nose is a nice interplay of choco-caramel maltiness and bruised strawberries and plums. I dont get much hop aroma or alcohol. Malt and fruit...pretty straightforward.

Taste throws a nice nutty curveball in the mix along with the aforementioned overripe fruit and strong, hearty malt presence. A fairly substantial bitterness creeps in slowly on the finish to dry things out, very nearly like biting a pine needle at the very end. Mouthfeel is smooth, and I think much of that can be attributed to the very fine carbonation. I like it, but the flavors are kinda all over the place. Top 25 winter warmers...sure. Top 10...prolly not. If I lived in WA though, I would surely look forward to a sixer of this every year, thanks Matt for a tasty rendition of a style that rarely gets any production love here in the south.

Bottle into pintglass.
A: Strong coffee brown, nicely opaque. Vigorous head. Holds better if poured a little warm.
S: Mostly malt and doesn't really give the full picture.
T: Best aspect of this beer. Nutty and dark, with a just a little burnt in it. The malt balance in this one is among the better of any NW brewer's winter offerings, and it has been consistent and consistently good for years.
M: Mmmm. Gets better the closer to the back of the throat it gets. Slosh it around.
D: Don't like a lot of the other Dicks beers but the DD is the exceptional exception. A goto option on any cooler shelf you can find it on. Love that they haven't even changed the GRAPHICS for 10 years, why mess with a good thing?

This beer pours an amber brown color with a thin head. The smell is malty with fruity esters or possibly fruitty hops, smells more like yeast though. At first the taste is of citrusy hops which quickly leads into toffeelike malt. Warming alcohol sensation, then finishes with hops. Nice thick bodied beer. Very drinkable considering the abv.

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a clear pint glass. Single purchased for $1.69 at John's Market.

A-Poured a medium amber hue with a one+ finger head that receded into a modestly sticky lace.

S-Piney and citrus hops and some biscuit like malt. More like a DIPA toward a light barleywine than a winter warmer, but I'm not complaining. Nice effect for a 7.5% ABV (according to the label).

T-Hoppy bitterness with a nicely balanced malt sweetness I find very pleasant. It is a lot like a light barleywine. I love the taste. I often am disappointed by DIPAs that are more like barleywines, but to have a winter warmer with aroma and taste like a barleywine, without the ABV to kick your ass is very nice.

M-Very smooth and well balanced. Nice carbonation level.

D-This went down very easily and I would readily reach for another. Wish I had bought more. First time I have had this and I will reach for this again. Also wish it wore more readily available.

Says 7.5% on the label. Handsome beer in my pint glass, dark copper, clear with a small yet nice off white head. Nice chocolaty caramel aromas, slightly lactic, and a bit o fruit. Nice smooth sweet , chocolaty malt driven ale. I have to say very English in style.Nice change up from the hops I have had recentlly. Nice and silky smooth on the palate with a very pleasureable after taste. Nice beer, very English in characteristics.

This is a garnet brown winter warmer with an off-white head that is predictably fleeting due to its 8.5% alcohol by volume. There isn't much lacing either. Both the smell and the flavor of this beer are wonderfully complex. The smell is herbal and almost medicinal, rooty, with spicy, yeasty notes. The taste is most certainly alcoholic and has dark fruit, herb, medicinal, raisin and spicy notes. Complex. There is a medium-long finish. The mouthfeel is full and alcoholic. A very drinkable as a winter warmer - to be enjoyed mindfully as it's a strong beer.

Pretty simple beer here. Done very well, but nothing too exciting. Pours a small head that only sticks around for a minute or so, leaves nice lacing throughout the glass. Nice dark brown color with hints of red in it. Smell is extremely malty, very sweet. Taste is just the same, very malty and unbelievably sweet, that is really the only shocking thing about this beer, I know malty beers are supposed to be sweet, but wow, this was on another level. It didn't taste bad, or overpowering, just really sweet. Drinkability was decent, might have been higher if that sweetness was diluted. Now that I think about it more and more I can't decide if the intense sweetness was bad or good, I guess I'm neutral on it, either way, not a bad beer.